Between Words and Meaning The translations of Brian Friel, Translations and Dancing at Lughnasa A Thesis submitted in fulfillment of the requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy in the University of Canterbury by Cassandra M. F. Fusco University of Canterbury 1998 "Gan cuimhne, duramar aris agus aris eile, nil aon phrionsabal i ndochas" (Ricoeur) I gcuimhne ar m' athair agus ar mo mhathair agus Mira. Is iomai duine a bhfuil me faoi chomaoin aige as an gcuidiu a tugadh dom, ag cur an trachtais seo Ie cMile. Sa gcead ait, ta me faoi chomaoin ag mo thuismitheoiri, a dtiolacaim an staidear seo doibh, ag teaghlach mo bhreithe, idir mharbh agus bheo, go hairithe ag Edward agus Jacqueline, ag m'fhear ceile agus ag ar gc1ann fein, agus John Goodliffe, agus sgolair Gordon Spence. Uathasan, agus 0 mo chairde sa da leathsfear, d'fhoghlaim me tabhacht na cumarsaide, bainte amach go minic Ie stro, tri litreacha lena mbearnai dosheacanta. 'Is iontach an marc a d'fh:ig an comhfhreagras ar mo shaol agus ar mo chuid staideir. Ta me faoi chomaoin, freisin, ag obair Bhrain Ui Fhrighil - focas mo chuid staideir -, ag an fhear fein agus ag a chomhleacaithe a thug freagrai chomh morchroioch sin dom ar na ceisteanna 0 na fritiortha. Is beag duine a ainmnitear anseo ach, mar is leir on trachtas fein, on leabharliosta agus 0 na notai buiochais, chuidigh a Ian daoine liom. Beannaim d' achan duine agaibh, gabhaim buiochas libh agus iarraim pardun oraibh as aon easpa, biodh si ina easpa phearsanta no acaduil, mar nil baint aici leis an muinin, an trua na an ionrachas a thaispeanann sibh, ach cuireann :ir n-easpai i gcuimhne duinn nach foirfe riamh an duine, ach oiread leis an tsamhlaiocht, agus nach mor do coinneailleis ar a aistear. 11 Table of Contents Preface .................................................................................................................. 1 Abstract ................................................................................................................ 3 List of Play titles and Abbreviations used in thesis ........................................... .4 Introduction ......................................................................................................... 5 i tracts and translations ..................................................................................... 6 ii the action and reaction of the contemporary Irish tradition ............................. 9 iii Friel' s 'Necessary Uncertainty' .................................................................. 10 iv the contemporary setting ............................................................................. 11 v communion through struggle ........................................................................ 15 vi Field Day - theory and practice ................................................................. 18 vii translating differences for 'the coming generations' ................................... 21 viii enacting relations of political and cultural authority .................................. 22 ix confronting the classics and ourselves ......................................................... 26 x chapter outlines ............................................................................................ 28 Chapter I Between Two Languages ................................................................. 37 i 'translation is ... ' .......................................................................................... 3 8 ii voicing the shadows and silences ................................................................ .41 iii negotiating differences ............................................................................... .43 iv 'talking to ourselves' .................................................................................. 45 v clearing new spaces, re-reading old gaps ..................................................... .49 vi additions and subtractions ........................................................................... 55 vii conclusion - transforming divisions ................................................, ......... 57 Chapter n 'Translations' (1980) - a lesson in decolonisation ........................ 63 Chapter summary ., .................. ,., ..................................................................... 64 Introduction ....... , .............................. , .... , ................. , ... " ........... , ...................... 65 i remembering and re-membering the map ............................................... , ...... 65 ii culture and consciousness ............................................................................ 66 iii challenging and re-Ieasing the tradition ...................................................... 67 iv linguistic cartography .. , .............. , .......................... , .................................... 75 v written from 'somewhere' ................................................................... , ........ 76 vi towards are-reading ., .................... ,., ................... , ...................................... 79 vii characters and context ................... , ....................... , .................................... 81 viii mendacious mapping ................................................................................ 89 ix critics' response .. , .. , ....... , ... , ............... , .. , .................... , .............................. 101 111 x critics stop 'play' ....................................................................................... 108 xi conclusion ................................................................................................ III Chapter III Three Sisters ................................................................................ 119 Chapter summary .......................................................................................... 120 i why rewrite? ............................................................................................... 121 ii characters from Finner and Tullamore ........................................................ 123 iii different Olgas .......................................................................................... 124 iv critics ....................................................................................................... 129 v 'a Moscow that exists only in fiction and in our feverish imagination, a city of peace with no banners, no slogans, no red bunting' (Gershkovich) ............................................................................................................ 133 vi a play of analogies .................................................................................... 135 vii 'life as it is, life as it should be' (Chekhov) .............................................. 145 V111 'Who knows if what has been called death is life, and life is death' (Euripides) ........................................................................................... 152 ix conclusion - translating changes ............................................................. 153 Chapter IV Fathers and Sons ......................................................................... 158 Chapter summary .......................................................................................... 159 i Turgenev, a chronicler of his times ............................................................. 160 ii Friel's attraction to Turgenev's enquiry ..................................................... 164 iii the novel, personal and political ................................................................ 165 iv a geography of change .............................................................................. 167 v Turgenev's Bazarov ................................................................................... 168 vi 'ceaselessly divided, ceaselessly interfused' .............................................. 169 vii a radical enquiry rewritten ....................................................................... 170 viii re-reading the social contours ................................................................. 179 ix excluding Sitnikov and Kukshina .............................................................. 181 x including the locals .................................................................................... 182 xi Friel's women ........................................................................................... 183 xii a different Bazarov .................................................................................. 184 xiii changing geography .............................................................................. 186 xiv critical response ...................................................................................... 188 xv Friel's Pavel, Fenichka, Odintsov ............................................................. 189 xvi conclusion .............................................................................................. 194 IV Chapter V A Month in the Country ................................................................ 199 Chapter summary .......................................................................................... 200 i in the age of realism .................................................................................... 200 ii censors and critics ..................................................................................... 201 iii a theatre of moods ................... ·................................................................